FutureTruck: Big Score for Big Red

The College of Engineering's Team Paradigm took top honors in nine of 23 judging categories at the 2001 FutureTruck awards ceremony held June 13 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. UW outperformed 14 teams by achieving a 65 percent improvement in on-road fuel efficiency (28 miles per gallon gasoline equivalency), and by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a remarkable 50 percent when compared with the stock Chevy Suburban. COE students also earned the Safety Award and top score in vehicle appearance, workmanship technical report, innovations in aluminum, use of materials and vehicle design inspection. (See article in New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/12/business/12DIES.html?searchpv=day01, registration required.) Team Paradigm scored 835 points out of 1000 possible putting them in second place overall. The University of California at Davis scored 875 points.

The FutureTruck competition challenges teams to take a well-engineered, top-of-the-line sport utility vehicle and make it even better by increasing its fuel efficiency and lowering its greenhouse gas emissions while achieving ultra-low exhaust emissions. In addition, students must maintain the performance, safety and features that consumers demand in a vehicle.

Competitive events and testing took place June 4-11 at the General Motors Milford Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. Following the weeklong competition, vehicles moved to a finish line ceremony at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, DC. Later that day, vehicles were on display at the U.S. Capitol Building where Members of Congress met with the university teams.